A New Bike Store Helps Former Drug Users Beat the Cycle of Addiction
"We believe that if you invest in job opportunities, you get social return," says Stuart Fraser in his Scottish accent, speaking on the phone last Friday.
For the last 25 years, Fraser has been working in healthcare and social enterprise between Scotland, England, and Ireland.
He's now the project director at Frontline Make Change, a charity that works with people suffering from drug or alcohol addiction around Bluebell and Inchicore.
"There's a long history of problematic drug and alcohol use within the area," he says.
Dublin's first methadone prescribing chemist was located in the area, says Fraser.
Frontline Make Change has been working here since 1999, providing people in the area with addiction services, counselling and family support programmes.
In the middle of September, they'll open up a new venture, Frontline Bike, an upcycling bike shop aimed to bridge a prevalent gap between addiction recovery and employment.